Coakley, Brown win light Western Massachusetts turnout

SPRINGFIELD – Pioneer Valley voters, like the rest of the state, gave Attorney General Martha M. Coakley and state Sen. Scott P. Brown resounding victories in Tuesday’s primary, a decision marked by a voter turnout of less than 10 percent in Springfield.

While Christmas shoppers packed area malls, the spirit of giving didn’t translate into going to the polls which remained nearly empty throughout the day.

Coakley, a Western Massachusetts native, rolled to wins in the Democratic primary in Hampden, Hampshire and Franklin counties, defeating U.S. Rep. Michael E. Capuano of Somerville; Stephen G. Pagliuca, co-owner of the Boston Celtics; and co-founder of City Year national service program Alan A. Khazei.

In the GOP race, Brown trounced businessman Jack E. Robinson.

Coakleyand Brown will square off in a special election Jan. 19.

Springfield registered the lowest turnout of any community in the three-county region Tuesday, with just 8,454 of 88,463 registered voters - 9.6 percent - bothering to go to the polls on a sun-splashed day.

The election proved only slightly more appealing to voters than the September primary for the City Council and School Committee, which drew a 9.5 percent turnout. The November election, in which Mayor Domenic J. Sarno was re-elected, drew a 25 percent turnout.

Of all the cities and towns in the state, Coakley’s 10 top finishes by percentage were in Western Massachusetts, including her hometown of North Adams, where she received 74 percent of the vote.

One of Capuano’s best showings was in Amherst, where he received 50 percent of the vote. Amherst was one of Coakley’s worst showings. She received 35 percent of the vote there.

Hampden County District Attorney William M. Bennett, a Coakley supporter, said he was happy for his fellow prosecutor.

“Martha’s a great campaigner. Focused. Disciplined. She has common sense and good judgment,” he said. “She came across very well both in the debates and in her television commercials.”

L. Timothy Vercellotti, co-director of the Western New England College Polling Institute, said the turnout demonstrated “you can’t schedule an election between Thanksgiving and Christmas.” He also said “there’s probably some voter fatigue” given the number of elections in Western Massachusetts communities in recent months.

Vercellotti, an associate professor of political science at WNEC, also said that among the Democrats there were many similarities.

“At least on the Democratic side, there were no very strong distinctions between the candidates on issue positions,” he said.

The abysmal turnout in Springfield included a smattering of voters going to the polls at Forest Park Middle School, where at about 7 p.m. Tuesday 74 of 1,266 voters in Ward 6, Precinct A had cast ballots.

The 74th voter was City Councilor Patrick Markey.

Markey said the governor and the two U.S. senators are the state’s most powerful politicians, but that even he knew “a number of otherwise civically-minded people” who had forgotten Tuesday was Election Day.

“Maybe people aren’t trained to pay attention to campaign seasons that are less than a year long,” said Markey, who did not run for re-election and is leaving his seat in January.

Nicola M. Manion, the precinct warden, labeled the low turnout “disgusting.” Manion said a number of people she knows did not show up at the polls.

“I am very very surprised at the people I have not seen,” she said. “They just don’t take these primaries seriously.”

“I know they’re educated. I know they have good jobs, and I do not see them here,” Manion added.

Vincenzo Ferraro, who has been the Ward 6, Precinct B warden for more than a decade, said usually when the polls open on Election Day there might be 10 or 12 people waiting to vote. On Tuesday, there were two.

There was also only one sign in front of the school, a Capuano sign stuck in the ground. Ferraro said there are usually campaign workers holdings signs for their candidates, but not for this primary.

“I think a lot of people didn’t even know there was an election today, you know?” Ferraro said. 